Drake was ecstatic! If he could, he would jump up and down in joy right now!
How long had it been?
Being betrayed by Hazezel, forced to leave his village while his mana core was destroyed, Drake had worked for months, tirelessly, to improve his skills as an alchemist while searching and collecting each and every ingredient.
He had fought so many demons, and done so many things, all for this moment. To refine this pill and restore his mana core.
Drake took a deep breath. Then, he closed his eyes and consumed the pill.
The pill travelled through his body and entered his inner realm where a mana core, charred black and mostly destroyed, was floating. As soon as the pill entered, the mana core moved; for the first time in a long time, it vibrated, showing a sign of life. To the mana core, the mere presence of the three leaf healing pill was like a drowning man being given a life jacket.
Under Drake’s watchful gaze, the pill calmly floated through the inner realm and reached his mana core. Then, it penetrated the core and went into it!
Immediately, Drake could feel a change. The three leaf healing pill was restoring his mana core from the inside out. Traces of white began appearing on the otherwise black and dark surface. Soon, what were just traces of white became patches, and the patches quickly covered half of the core.
Half of his mana core was restored!
At this point, Drake noticed something. It was so unbelievable that he double and triple checked it to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. But he was certain now.
When mages cultivated, they had to temper their mana cores, slowly breaking them down before building them back up, purer and more powerful than before. Drake previously believed that the pill would restore his core to its former condition. However, seeing the light being emitted by his mana core now, it wasn’t the same as before.
Instead, it was at the middle stage true mage realm!
Drake didn’t understand why this was happening. Was his mana core getting destroyed and restored similar to breaking it down, tempering, and building it back up all at once? He had no idea, but he did know one thing. He was going to break through to the middle stage true mage realm!
Unable to contain his excitement, Drake watched the pill work its magic. As the seconds passed, Drake saw more and more of his mana core be restored. Eventually, his entire mana core turned white and shone brilliantly.
The mana core released an aura. The aura left his inner realm, penetrated through his body, and spread over the surroundings.
Sylvia opened her eyes and stood up. She looked at Drake, completely flabbergasted.
‘He… became a mage?’
The mana core began spinning and zooming around his inner realm as if it was personally excited to be restored. A few seconds later, it relaxed and started floating in the same spot. As it did so, drops of mana began forming around the core and collecting into a small spring.
This was it.
Drake had become a mage once again!
Sylvia was utterly confused.
“You… you became a mage!?!?!?” she yelled.
How was this possible? Did Drake know about a pill that could make people mages? Such a thing was unheard of!
Seeing the stoic Sylvia display an expression of complete disbelief and perplexion made Drake chuckle.
“Actually, I was always a mage,” Drake explained.
“Really?” Syliva gasped in surprise.
“Yes,” Drake continued. “When fighting the dark mages who invaded my village, they used a technique to destroy my mana core. Luckily, I knew the recipe for a pill to restore my mana core. So, after many months of collecting the right materials and practising alchemy, I finally managed to make the pill and, here I am,” Drake finished his explanation with a smile.
Realisation dawned on Sylvia. “I… I see…” she mumbled.
For a moment, she felt really sorry for Drake. She couldn’t imagine what she would do if her mana core was destroyed. Yet, Drake had not let himself despair. He had immediately begun working on a solution, gathering materials and practising alchemy tirelessly, so that he could one day restore his mana core.
“That’s… you’re quite amazing,” she said finally, developing a new respect for Drake’s perseverance and hard work.
“Thank you,” Drake replied. Then, he turned and looked around. He still had two vials of the mana water, several pieces of the commander class demon corpse, eleven leaves of the Celestial Willow, as well as various rare herbs, ores, and other materials left. He took them all into his storage pouch along with his ice fire cauldron.
Drake wondered what he should do now. Then, he felt the dense mana around him and realised there was only one sensible option. He was getting closer to the middle stage steel body realm, and this might be a good opportunity to make a lot of progress.
In fact, if he hadn’t been busy practising alchemy, rune engraving, learning his martial skills, and everything else, he might have broken through to the middle stage steel body realm already. This room was a great opportunity for him to catch up on his cultivation which he had not prioritised for a while.
Taking a deep breath, Drake calmed his mind, began absorbing mana from the surroundings and activated the Twelve Star Supreme Body Transformation arts.
Seeing Drake return to cultivation, Sylvia also did the same. The duo sat separately in the mana rich, underground passage and began cultivating.
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…
Meanwhile, outside, in the inheritance.
Winds raged across the huge plains, sweeping up vasts amount of dust into a huge storm. Cultivators struggled to navigate the dust storm while being ambushed by demons continuously.
Two such cultivators were now kneeling on the floor. One was a tall and muscular man. He had planted his large sword into the ground and was holding onto its hilt for support while panting for breath. Next to him was a young woman wearing purple robes. Her beautiful facial features were covered by numerous cuts and bruises, and her hair was a dishevelled mess. A huge hammer laid by her side as she knelt on the ground on all fours, completely powerless.
Several dozen vulture spirits were flying over them, while seven figures surrounded them imposingly. One of them was a red-haired young man wielding a sword on one hand, and chains on the other. Seeing the state of the two cultivators before him, he grinned and activated his martial technique.
Snake walk!
Theo appeared before Blaze in a flash. He lifted his right leg while pivoting on his left heel and rotated his hips. His leg swung at Blaze’s face like a hammer. Too weak to defend, Blaze took the kick directly and was sent flying. His body bounced against the harsh ground several times before he finally came to a stop.
“Haha! Not so tough now are you?” laughed Theo.
However, Blaze couldn’t respond. He laid on his back weakly for a few seconds before slowly turning around, pushing himself up. Blaze tried to stand but his legs were too weak. However, he could make eye contact with Theo. Despite his predicament, there was not a trace of fear in his eyes, and he glared at Theo ferociously.
“Kill me,” Blaze whispered. His voice was carried by the winds and echoed across the surroundings. He continued staring at Theo as he spoke his following words. “I dare you.”
“Tst,” Theo spat. They would have killed him already if it was so simple. However, if they killed him directly, Blaze could mark all of them before his death, turning them all into sworn enemies of the entire dragon race. It would then only be a matter of time before the dragon race eventually hunted them all down.
However…
Theo smirked and looked at the dark grand mage. The dark grand mage broke into a smile and silently took out a horn artifact from his storage pouch.
Blaze and Farisa sensed that it was just a rank one artifact so they were confused about why the dark grand mage took it out now.
However, they wouldn’t have to wonder for long.
The dark mage poured his mana into the horn while raising it to his lips.
Then, with a deep, guttural breath, he blew.
A low and melancholic wail escaped, echoing through the still air. It was a sound both ancient and terrifying, a dirge of impending doom.
As the notes grew louder, the ground began to tremble. Dark clouds covered the blazing sun, casting the land in darkness. Shadows seemed to writhe and dance at the peripheries of Blaze and Farisa’s visions. A cold wind whipped up in the surroundings, carrying with it a scent of decay and sulphur.
Specks of darkness appeared in the distance all around them. The shadows grew in size as they rapidly approached the duo. Within a few seconds, over twenty of the shadows surrounded them. They had now solidified into figures composed entirely out of shadow. Each stood tall and firm as they wielded various weapons including swords, spears, axes, bows, hammers, daggers, and more, while radiating the aura of servant class demons.
Blaze and Farisa’s faces paled as they saw the few dozen shadow demons surrounding them, quickly multiply to a hundred, then several hundred, to almost a thousand! Many of the figures also radiated the auras of warrior class demons. The combined aura of so many servant and warrior class shadow demons was so powerful it exerted a physical pressure on Blaze and Farisa.
The dark grand mage finally lowered the horn and placed it back into his storage pouch. He saw Blaze and Farisa standing back to back as they eyed the shadow demons warily. They had consumed some pills to recover a bit of strength, however, he knew that they would not be able to survive this.
Not only him, even Blaze and Farisa also knew that they couldn’t beat this army.
‘So they came prepared, huh,’ Blaze wondered. By using this army to kill him, the dark mages wouldn’t have to worry about his enemy of race marking.
“Hahahaha!” Theo laughed heartily. “I so wish I could kill you with my own hands. But, sadly I can’t,” he spoke with a sarcastic, lamentful tone. Then, his eyes sparkled with a crazed delight. “Guess I’ll just have to make up for it by killing that boy instead!”
“You bastard!” Blaze yelled. “Don’t you dare touch Drake!”
“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?” Theo asked mockingly. “You couldn’t even save… what was her name again?” he laughed.
“I’LL KILL YOUUUUU!” Blaze roared furiously, his voice echoing through the surroundings. But Theo became amused and just chuckled in response.
“Save yourself first idiot!”
“That’s enough,” the dark grand mage interrupted their exchange. He turned to Blaze and Farisa and spoke. “The two of you did well to survive for so long against me. However, this is where it all comes to an end.” He then focused on Blaze who glared back at him, before adding, “Your strength really did live up to the reputation of the dragon race. You should be proud.”
“Come here and say that,” Blaze spat in response.
“Ha!” the dark grand mage chuckled and turned around. “Let’s go,” he said to the dark mages. “We don’t have any time to waste. We need to collect the rest of the inheritances before going to the main one.”
The dark mages laughed and followed along. As they began walking away, the shadow demons started banging their weapons against the ground, creating rhythmic vibrations. The demons became excited and started roaring, while slamming their weapons harder and harder.
Then, they charged.
…
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room in Basindale.
A mysterious hooded figure was sitting at a table placed next to an open window. A small lantern at the centre of the table shone faint rays of light at the otherwise dark surroundings.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Come in,” the mysterious figure answered with a deep voice. Immediately, the door creaked open and footsteps echoed through the room, becoming louder and louder as it reached closer to the table.
Once it was close, the lantern illuminated the guest to be a man in his mid-thirties, wearing dark robes, radiating a warrior mage aura. The man knelt, cupped his fists, and spoke in a respectful tone. However, his voice carried a trace of fear.
“My lord, we have been investigating… the individual attacking the Ironheart family.”
“And…?” the figure asked calmly, continuing to stare out the window nonchalantly.
For a moment, the man did not reply. If one looked closely, they would be able to see his hands shaking. The man gulped, and replied, “We have looked everywhere but… we couldn’t find out who it was.”
Silence fell upon the room once more. Only the crackling of the fire in the lantern made any sound at all.
A few seconds passed in silence as the man became more and more agitated. He was about to open his mouth and explain further when his face suddenly turned pale. The man weakly brought his hands to his throat while attempting to say something but no words came out as his throat severely constricted. The man let out a faint cough before falling limply on the floor.
A semi-invisible spirit travelled out of the man’s open mouth. Its figure appeared to blend into the wind, making it difficult to tell what sort of a creature it was. A few seconds later, the spirit dissipated into mana.
At the same time, a mild breeze entered through the window and carried the low whispering of the mysterious figure.
“Useless…”
Meanwhile, in an unknown cave.
A young man wearing an eye patch sat cross-legged while meditating. Standing next to him was another young man, wielding a spear, whose face was half-decomposed, indicating him to be an undead.
The two were naturally Henry and Jin Tong.
Henry opened his eyes and looked out the cave’s entrance. Well into the distance, the walls of a magnificent town could be seen.
“Hmm, seems like things have quietened down,” he spoke to himself. “While everyone’s busy with the inheritance, I’ll make a few more moves before laying low for a while.”
Saying so, Henry stood up and exited the cave.
Over the next couple of days, several more of the Ironheart family’s deliveries and resource points would be attacked by a dark mage using the Hidden Venom Cult’s methods. However, no matter how much they tried, the Hidden Venom Cult could not find out who it was, while Cedric Ironheart became more and more angry, and decided to hunt down every dark mage in Duskville.